Hey everyone,

I'm currently thinking about buying a car as a daily driver and one of the options I'm looking at is a B6. My budget is about $8K, this is basically what I'm probably going to get selling my current car.

I've been reading through the posts and looks like everyone's a big fan of the 1.8T because of its broader tuning options. Tuning is not on my priority list at all, I'll just use genuine parts when. I also do all my service in my garage; plugs, filters, oil...etc.

My only requirement is that it should be Auto. If it's a Quattro, then that would be nice to have.

My questions are:
1. At my budget, would this be good for a sound reliable car? Or is it going to get me a shabby car?
2. What are the common faults
3. Is there a published buying guide somewhere?
4. How long do engines usually last? 150K? 250?
5. I've also ready that major jobs are usually done around the 85 - 90K mile mark. Does this mean that if I get a car with 100K on it, that would be good?
6. Could you shed more light on the oil problem that engines have? Is it for a particular model? Or is it general to all engines?
7. Do Auto boxes hold up? Or do they just go after a certain mile-mark
8. Is there a model guide that can tell which cars came with what?

I'm sure those questions have all been asked a million times before, so if you could please point me to where they're all posted, that would be great

Sorry for the long post

Amr

 

ill try:
1. you can find one for 8 grands, but it would have a lot of miles.
2. search. but it can be anything as on any car... look carefully for any oil leaks/suspension components
3. have no idea
4. dont know about 250k, but why not as long as you take care of it
5. true. having 100k miles on this car doesnt mean that all the maintance had been already done. ask for all the receipts.
6. it called OIL SLUDGE, search here
7. they are ok
8. dont know

 

No. You'll spend 8k on the car and have no money left for the things that will begin breaking in the first month.

 

Bought a B6 and 2 months later I had about $5000 in repairs. Worth it, but costly and caught me unprepared. If I got the car fixed sooner it would have cost 1/5th that. If you have a little money and are proactive and diligent, you can do it, but any Audi you buy for $8k is going to show it's age, one way or another...

Though I must say that, if you pay for it outright, you'll have instant equity to borrow against should something go wrong.

 

Having just bought an 02 3.0 quattro with only 50000km on the clock (hardly used) and since reading all the stories about the horrid timing belt change, i can heartly recommend buying as new as possible so you have time to save up for that belt change!! Other then that the only issues were a busted brake light and some small trim damage. Fortunately for me power window switches which have turned white arent a deal breaker for me.

Mind you I paid royally for those kms.

 

Guys,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions...

I just think I might have been a bit unclear about some of them; when asking about common faults, I know for a fact that every car has different issues with different components. For example, I own a 99 BMW 323 (E36); this model is known to have a bad water pump that has a plastic impeller. This disintegrates around 100K and results in major issues. This is why it's recommended that the water pump and thermostat are replaced around the 90K mile marker. Same goes for the rear suspension mounts; they're made out of rubber and usually last about 100K.

This is what I meant by asking about common faults. Something like the electrical problem that seems to hit most cars and cause light bulbs to simply go out with no reason.

Now that I've been doing some research about the car and have found a listing of the common faults:
http://reviews.ebay.com/Audi-A4-VW-1...00000004211765

If I found a car that had its timing belt changed at 85K miles, and a repair history showing that the list has been dealt with. Is it safe to say that it should be good? Or is something else I'm missing?

Sorry again for the long post, I'm just trying to gather as much information as possible about the car

Thanks

Amr

 

A car like that should be ok. Regular oil changes are very important. Other than that coil packs are common and coolant flanges are common. Motor mounts are pretty common and so are check valves.

 

The B6 A4 suffers from the same plastic water impeller issue as the BMW you mention. Do timing belt before 100k and best around or before 80k. Other common issues include the dreaded engine sludge from not using full synthetic oil and larger filters, possibly tie rods, the crappy vacuum lines that rot and need to be replaced, rear coolant flange. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

shane.trammell,

Thank you for your comment, I didn't have neither the Coil Packs not the coolant flanges on my list.

WolfDog,

For the plastic impeller issue, is there an alternative water pump that comes with a Stainless Steel impeller?

Also, one more question, is there a recommended website to buy parts? I'm currently looking at"
http://www.pelicanparts.com

From the BMW perspective, they seem to carry stuff at the best prices. Is this the same for Audi? Or is there another place to buy parts?

Thanks again guys

Amr

 

The websites I deal with for parts have been ecstuning.com and aboveallmotorwerks.com. Both are good. The new water pumps do have metal impellers. FYI my belt and pump were done at 90k and the plastic water pump was fine.